Posts Tagged ‘tidal pool’

I’ve been so busy since the birth of my new grand-daughter and my focus has been far away from both travel and blogs.

sweet baby june

Over the past months l have traveled. I went to Portland, OR. It was frugal because we stayed with family. There are two important rules when staying with family while traveling, don’t stay too long and always rent a car.

The trip was too short for my liking we only stayed for a week. It was gloomy almost every day and we experienced a rare Portland snow. The city had many choices for food and brew and we enjoyed both.

The city of Portland was much like many other cities and really not the kind of vacation adventure I enjoy. The highlight of our trip was family and we spent as much time as possible with them as Mount Hood stood in the distance on constant vigil.

We also drove through a mountain pass and took a ride down the coast. Rough waters carved the coast line, crashing waves and tempting tidal pools abound.

The following photographs of the Oregon coast are courtesy of seantaylorphotography.com

There was also a treacherous ride in a snow storm through the pass on our return to Portland, driving a rented Crown Victoria. I can’t believe they don’t use road salt in Oregon. Their cars don’t rust, but if there is snow and ice you just might better not go out.

Some day we’ll return for and explore more of what the real Oregon has to offer.

The remoteness of this beach is part of the charm. The only access is a 5 mile long, poorly marked dirt and sand rutted road miles from the nearest town Kekaha. A sign at the entrance says 4 wheel drive only, but slow and careful navigation brought the Acura through this adding just another layer of red dirt dust.

The cliffs at Polihale

Polihale, the word means “house of the after world” or in other words, heaven. Heavenly is an accurate description of this long stretch of remote wild beach. Wild because the shore is unprotected from the open ocean, entering the water is not safe here, the beach drops off rapidly into extremely deep water, the waves are relentless and strong rip currents are present especially during the winter months. One must be careful even just walking along the beach. I saw one unsuspecting walker, strolling along the edge of the surf,swamped waist-high holding his camera above his head, barely keeping his footing as he headed for high ground. I could see

a red stain in the water that clearly defined the rip currents, the waves were 10 to 12 feet high, and presented in rapid succession. These waves were small in comparisons to the surf on Oahu this day which were said to be up to 30 feet.

sunlight washes cliffs at polihale

We found the most gorgeous secluded spot under a twisted tree that offered much appreciated shade. The back drop was the cliffs of Na Pali, so close we could almost touch them, the surf and a tidal pool were center stage. The tidal pool was our private bath, refreshed on a regular basis with fresh surf. We stayed for hours. Peaceful and beautiful. In Hawaiian mythology it is believed that spirits travel the coastal plain next to this beach, stay in a temple near here and then jump from the northern cliffs into the sea, to gain their passage to heaven. The place definitely has a spiritual feel.

driftwood and patterns in the sand

The people of Kauai are frugal and resourceful. In December of 2008 flooding damaged facilities and closed the access road. The park was closed. The government estimated it would cost 4 million dollars for repairs and take up to 2 years to complete. Locals fearing the economic impact,voluntarily repaired the road on their own rather than wait for the government to take action. They finished fixing the road in 8 days. I love these people.